News TCC uses salvaged materials to construct table
In the streets of post-Katrina New Orleans, trash heaps have become commonplace. Gutted houses frame mountains of soggy sheet rock, worn-out flooring and tired windows. This refuse provides a visual testament to just how much our residents have lost.
To properly address this architectural waste, New Orleans needs a comprehensive building material recycling program. We can begin by diverting waste from overwhelmed landfills and providing the rebuilding effort with a plentiful source of high quality building materials. This process saves energy and natural resources, reduces Katrina’s carbon footprint, retains the quality and identity of the city’s building stock, and contributes to a smarter local economy.
To test this theory, Tulane’s City Center collaborated with The Rose Architectural Fellowship to investigate the real-world logistics of incorporating salvaged materials for architectural reuse. The team targeted one typical trash pile along a street in a flooded mid-city neighborhood. Initially, they picked apart the heap of debris to determine the amount and type of refuse generated by a typical gutted house. Then they looked at what they could construct with the materials from one single trash heap—- and the process of rebuilding by diverting this waste from the landfill.
The team developed a design for a table that would illustrate the new potential embedded within old woodwork—- built entirely out of the materials found in that single pile. In addition to highlighting the salvage opportunities in post-Katrina New Orleans, this team also demonstrated a feasible strategy for upcycling material waste.
Click here to see details of the Salvage Exhibit Auction.
02.22.08
